News

Following the heavy Gu’ rains this year, the river Shebelle burst its banks displacing thousands of people in Belet Weyne town and the surrounding riverine villages. The floodwaters inundated houses and crops causing destruction to power grids, farm fields and infrastructure.

 Monday 21^st May 2017- A powerful tropical cyclone with winds in excess of 120 km/per hour and an entire year’s worth of rain in just a few days has left destruction and death in its wake in Somaliland, endangering the lives of thousands of children in the region.

Maryam Warsame is a mother of five Children, all boys aged between 2 to 7 years old. She lived with her husband, Ahmed Jama in Widhwidh village of Togdher region in Somaliland. The family used to run a small business that was their source of their income. Maryam was forced to flee from her home with her children due to abuse and conflicts by her husband.

When I visited Farhiya Hussein in her home in Kalabayr village, I found her sitting in her house with five out of her 10 children. It is morning hours and many of the children in this village are now in school. Sadly this is not the case for the children in this house—most of Farhiya’s children are at home. She tells me she is only able to send two of her children—Khadra and Ahmed—to school and the rest stay at home.

In 2017, over half of the Somali population (6.2M) faced acute food insecurity and famine was looming over the country throughout the year. However, a swift donor response to release funds, lessons learnt from the 2011 famine and the incredible mobilization from the diaspora community worldwide helped to avert famine.